Ram Kalia Devi v. The State Of Bihar

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.71833 of 2024 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-139 Year-2024 Thana- PUNPUN District- Patna ====================================================== Ram Kalia Devi W/o Kalam Mian R/o Kalawanchak Pothhi, O.P.- Kewda, P.S.- Punpun, Dist.- Patna ... ... Petitioner/s

Versus

The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :

For the Petitioner/s :

Mr. Dhirendra Prasad Sinha For the Opposite Party/s :

Mr. Rajesh Kumar ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SATYAVRAT VERMA ORAL ORDER 01-10-2024

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned A.P.P. for the State.

2. The petitioner apprehends her arrest in a case registered for the offence punishable under Section 30(a) of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Amendment Act, 2018.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that petitioner is a person with clean antecedent and is a woman and allegation is of recovery of 10 litres of liquor from the house of the petitioner. It is next submitted that petitioner was not arrested from the spot as such nothing was recovered from her and after amendment in the Excise Act in the year 2018, the concept of deemed possession and presumed offender has been done away with. It is also submitted that the house in question is a joint family property as such it cannot be alleged with

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.71833 of 2024(2) dt.01-10-2024 2/3 certainty that it was petitioner, who had kept the liquor in the house or the liquor kept in the house was within her knowledge and she came to be implicated at the instance of local villager but then it is submitted that police in majority of the cases implicates either at the instance of chowkidar, local person, secret information or confessional statement without holding proper investigation in a mechanical manner, when petitioner admittedly is a person with clean antecedent.

4. Learned A.P.P. for the State opposes the prayer for anticipatory bail of the petitioner.

5. Considering the submissions made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioner above-named, in the event of his arrest or surrender before the learned Court below within a period of six weeks from today, be released on anticipatory bail on furnishing bail bonds of Rs.500/- (Rupees five hundred) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of the learned trial court where the case is pending/successor court in connection with Punpun P.S. Case No.139/2024, subject to the conditions as laid down under Section 438 (2) of the Cr.P.C.

6. It is made clear that the learned trial court before accepting the bail bonds of the petitioner shall verify the

Patna High Court CR. MISC. No.71833 of 2024(2) dt.01-10-2024 3/3 criminal antecedents of the petitioner and in the event if it is found that petitioner has antecedent of even one case, in that event, the present anticipatory bail order shall not be given effect to.

7. Today, 30 cases relating to excise were taken up, in 30 cases, there were 38 petitioners, out of which, 21 petitioners were persons with clean antecedent, further in 15 cases the recovery of liquor is less than 30 litres, as such, the total amount of liquor alleged to have been seized is 2810.018 litres. (Satyavrat Verma, J) amit/- U T